Years ago, when I listened to “The Space Between” by Dave
Matthews, I thought a lot about my own interpretation of the space between. The song gives you a lot to think about, but
I took it in my own direction. The "space between" is what makes up most of our lives.
The space between being born and starting kindergarten, entering high
school and graduating from high school, moving to college and starting your
first job, marriage, babies, retirement and death. This is just a short list of some of the major
highlights that make up our life. Then
there are smaller spaces, the space between birthdays, vacations, holidays, visits
with loved ones, paychecks and weekends.
What I want to focus on is the space between morning and
night, each and every day that we live. This is what defines who we are, how we
choose to live our lives, how we make people feel and how we make ourselves
feel. This is incredibly important
because it is how we spend the majority of our lives, which shapes our day to
day happiness and our relationships with others.
I want to take this thought in 2 directions. The first is that we need to know we have
control over our day to day lives, there are always choices, we are accountable
for the choices we make and we need to actively work to bring happiness into
our lives. This requires being present,
living in the moment, finding ourselves, discovering our likes and dislikes and
living “our” life.
The second is what makes us who we are is not often the big,
visible, momentous events. Once in a lifetime
we can give money to charity, help a stranger beside the road or help a needy
family. These are wonderful acts of
kindness, but it is the kindness displayed on an everyday basis that defines
who we are. On the other hand we can make
mistakes, lose our patience, say or do something we regret, but this too does
not define who we are. It is the sum of our everyday actions that make us who we are, what we choose to do in the "space between".
My last point is that we need to do our best to make the space
between a happy, healthy place to live. Surround
yourself with the people that make you happy.
Do the activities you love. Fill
your home with items you love. I think
many of us can agree that vacations, holidays and special events are some of the
best times of our lives. Work to bring
vacations into your everyday life, mark a weekend, a day, an evening as a “vacation”
and do the things that make you happy.
Maybe on vacation you enjoy relaxation, laying in the sun, reading a
book, swimming in a pool, enjoying a cocktail, these are all moments you can
bring into your life on a regular basis.
The people who share these moments with you also make them special, so
plan events with people you enjoy being around, it does not require a wedding, a
funeral or a holiday to get together and enjoy each other’s company. The key to unlocking much of what I have just
described is the ability to be grateful.
Be grateful for all of the big things, all of the little things and all of the basic things (like the air you breath) in your life.
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people
will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
~Maya Angelou
XOXO,
Megan
